CYCLIST SOLDIERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11538, 24 November 1900, Page 2 (Supplement)

CYCLIST SOLDIERS.

GENERAL MAURICE'S INTERESTING REPORT. Major-General Sir F. Maurice, K.C.8., has just sent to the Under-Secretary of State for War an interesting and valuable report on the cycling manoeuvres carried out in the Brighton district during three days at the beginning of August. The operations, it may be remembered, were hampered by bad weather, but the rough experiences "of the first day especially tended to test the pluck of the men, and showed almost immediately who'were trained and who were untrained. Major-General Maurice says all the volunteer sections actually on parade accepted the situation cheerfully, and, realising that it was a question of whether the cyclist was a fair-weather fighter only, or could 'be depended upon on greasy roads against driving wind and blinding rain, they held goodhumouredly to their task, and carried it through. The untrained men, however, were not so stout-hearted. It is very evident from this report that the lessons gained during those three days will be of lasting value. No precaution, says the director of the operations, should be too great in preparing for their arrangement and conduct. " Among these," he continues, " one of the most important would be that men able to repair cycles should be- at the rear of every large detachment; that, when that provision had been made, every cyclist, if his tyre were punctured or he met with any accident, should fall to the rear. The detachment should go on without checking because of the accident. I had impressed on cyclist commanders that in a movement such as we were making ' the head must not wait for the tail,' but in the darkness a party of men could not leave a comrade on the road without any resource, and the consequent delays were very serious." There is one very interesting paragraph in the report, indicating how the alarm might be given in the event of a foreign foe attempting to invade our island. "As soon as it is certain that an enemy is actually landing, steps must be taken to summon every cyclist to his proper point of rendezvous. In my view, this can only be done by a pre-arranged signal, such as the sounding on Rig Ben and on the great bell of St. Paul's of a certain unmistakable number of strokes, repeated all down the river and over the country, as the signal was at the time of the news of the relief of Mafeking. The news would, of course, travel to the great centres by telegraph. The point is to reach every cyclist rifleman in his home. For that purpose telegrams and messages would be too slow. All the big centres and parishes would have to adopt similar means of warning. Time is the essence of the question."